The area takes its name from the Downs View farm established around 1842 near the present-day intersection of Keele Street and Wilson Avenue.

In the western section is the large Downsview Park district which has served as a military base but is now being redeveloped into parkland and mixed uses.

Immediately beside Dufferin Street, William R. Allen Road brings large traffic volumes from the Ontario Highway 401 exit to the south.

There is a large "big box" retail area south of Wilson between Dufferin Street and Allen Road.

The area is named for the farm settled by Justice of the Peace John Perkins Bull called Downs View in 1842 near Keele Street and Rustic Road, then in York County, Upper Canada.

[3] Other historical landmarks from this period include The George Jackson House, which was also designated heritage property.

The facility was expanded during the 1930s and particularly during the Second World War, and became Canada's largest supplier of military, civilian and government-owned aircraft, as well as the site of several aviation firsts and record-breaking flights.

In 1969, a large residential complex of five 19-storey high apartment buildings, known as Jane-Exbury Towers, was completed in 1969.

[4] The military base and the de Havilland company, including the runway and all buildings, was closed and sold to Bombardier Aerospace in 1994.

Some 1000 de Havilland DH 98 Mosquito aircraft were built by the company at Downsview during the Second World War.

Mayor David Miller had publicly expressed his condolences to the families of the victims shortly thereafter.

[13] A number of these parks are situated near the valley of the Black Creek, as it flows south and west from Sheppard Avenue midway between Keele and Jane Streets.

Downsview Park has also hosted several large public events, including a Papal Mass, attended by 800,000 people on 28 July 2002.

Portions of Allen Road adjacent to Downsview also operate as a controlled access highway, although it is maintained by the City of Toronto, and not the provincial government.

Another stop on Line 1, Sheppard West station, is situated adjacent of the neighbourhood, on the eastern side of Allen Road.